Urban Bikers' Tricks & Tips

This book came up recently in another discussion.  Howard thought it might make a subject for some good discourse, so I thought I'd elaborate a bit on some of what I said there.

I think the design approach/format utilized by this book as well as its inclusion of some topics that often go unmentioned or are given short shrift in other similarly-themed books is commendable.  It's incredibly visual and overflowing with diagrams, charts and other illustrations that I believe communicate information better than text alone might do for the same information.

The first edition of this book came out in 1997; there's been two updated editions published since, one in 2004 and the latest in 2010.  I've got the 2004 edition and I as I mentioned in the other thread, while I think how it "works" is better than a lot of similarly-focused books, some of the actual info seems a bit dated and wrapped up in attitudes created by circumstances/situations that have since evolved.  There's also a couple of pure "WTF?" ideas that, even with the hindsight that accompanies the passing of time, I find hard justify.

I wasn't riding around in Chicago in 1997 or 2004; all I know about what was going on here then in terms of cycling comes from discussions with other people, posts on forums such as this and books like UBT&T and The Immortal Class (unsurprisingly, you'll spot names of Chainlinkers in both books).  I have no doubt drivers were even less aware and more antagonistic at that time then they are now; I think it goes without question that there is both more cyclists and bicycle infrastructure today than there was 15 years ago (or even 8).

I'm also sure that if I looked at books from 2004 surveying web technologies, the geopolitical climate or any of a zillion other topics, they'd seem dated as well.

First off, an example of what I really like about this book.  I'm not saying that everything in this example is exactly correct, but I like how it's presented:

Another example.  Again, my focus here isn't whether what's below is right or wrong, but how it's presented.

This book has a lot of similar diagrams addressing a lot of different situations.  As I read through it for the first time, I found many scenarios presented that I'd encountered before while riding and wondered what the "correct" action to take was, but not seen much attention given to in other guides to city riding.  I didn't always agree with the given solution/advice, but I was glad to see it addressed.

In that other thread, I mentioned (with some vagueness) that a section about u-lock justice hadn't sat well with me.  Juan immediately remembered the diagram I was thinking about (at the bottom of the page):

Personally, I see no benefit to anyone providing information like this, even with the attached skull and crossbones qualification.

It's also hard for me to think the following is needed and/or more useful than not:

Here's one of those "WTF?" moments I mentioned---what do you think about #4?

As I said, these examples all come from the 2004 edition.  Here's what DG's site says about the 2010 edition:

New in the 2010 3rd revised edition:

• The latest in locking hardware, including pictures and unique features of prominent brands.
• The latest in bike-helmet equipment and fitting.
• The newest developments in headlight devices, including LED, lithium-ion, and battery-free technology.
• Explanations of internal-gear and single-gear drive trains.
• An updated directory of bicycling advocacy groups in North America.

It's certainly possible some of this was addressed or changed in the 2010 edition.

I'd like to see more books/websites/posters/brochures aimed at riders (and drivers!) with a similar emphasis on visually communicating best practices regarding cycling and/or driving around cyclists.  I'm surprised that it doesn't seem like other books authored since the original publication of UBT&T covering the same subjects haven't incorporated more of that approach.